The meditations for the eight days in this year’s material for the week of prayer build on the notion that prayer for Christian unity, spiritual ecumenism, is foundational to all other aspects of the search for unity among Christians. They offer a sustained reflection on the theme of prayer for unity, each drawing attention to one aspect or concern of such prayer, and making a connection to one of the imperatives which St Paul addresses to the Christian community in Thessalonica. The opening meditation presents unity as a gift and a call to the church, and ponders what it means to “pray without ceasing” for unity.THE WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY
and throughout the year 2008Theme: Pray without ceasing (1 Thess 5:17)
Jointly prepared and published by
The Pontifical Council for Christian Unity
The Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches
Octave (eight days) of Prayer for Christian Unity (January 20 to 27, 2008)
Click here for the version without daily commentary
Patience and perseverance go hand in hand in Christian life, and Day 5 invites a prayerful attentiveness to the different paces and rhythms of our sisters and brothers as we strive for the unity Christ desires for his disciples. The meditation for Day 6 encourages prayer for the grace to be willing instruments of God in this reconciling work. Day 7 suggests that as we have learned to work together in responding to others in their distress, so too we might learn how to walk together in prayer, learning to appreciate the many different ways in which Christians turn to God in their need. The final meditation of the eight days takes stock of where we are on the Spirit-led journey to unity, calling us and our churches to recommit ourselves to pray and strive with our whole being for the unity and peace willed by God.
Is 55:6-9:
Seek the Lord while he may be found
Ps 34:
I sought the Lord, and he answered me
1 Thess 5: (12a) 13b-18: Pray without ceasing
Lk 18:1-8:
To pray always and not to lose heart
Commentary
Paul writes “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks
in all circumstances; for this is the will
of God in Christ Jesus for you”. His epistle is written to a
faithful community that is anxious about
death. Many good and believing brothers and sisters have “fallen
asleep” before the Lord’s return to
bring all into his resurrection. What will happen to these faithful
dead? What will happen to the living?
Paul assures them that the dead shall be raised with the living
and exhorts them to “pray without
ceasing”. What does it mean to pray without ceasing? We find
insights to answer this question in
today’s readings. Our whole lives are to be a seeking of the
Lord, convinced that in seeking, we shall
find.
In the midst of the Exile, when all seemed hopeless and dry, the
prophet Isaiah proclaims, “Seek the
Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near”.
Even in exile, the Lord is near and
urging his people to turn to him in prayer and to follow his
commandments so that they may know his
mercy and pardon. Psalm 34 affirms the prophetic conviction that
the Lord will answer those who call
upon him, and adds praise to the call to pray without ceasing.
In Luke’s gospel, Jesus teaches his disciples with the parable
of the widow seeking justice from a
judge who neither feared God nor respected people. The story
serves as a reminder of the need for
constancy in prayer - “to pray always and not to lose heart”
- and for confidence that prayer is
answered: “will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who
cry to him day and night?”
As Christians in search of unity, we reflect on these readings
to find “the will of God in Christ Jesus
for you”. It is Christ who lives within us. Our call to pray
without ceasing becomes part of his eternal
intercession to the Father: “that all may be one, ... that the
world may believe...”. The unity we seek is
unity ‘as Christ wills’ and the ‘octave’ observance of Christian
prayer for unity reflects the biblical
notion of completion, that some day our prayer will be answered.
Unity is a God-given gift to the church. It is also a call of
Christians to live out this gift. Prayer for
Christian unity is the source from which flows all human endeavour
to manifest full visible unity. Many
are the fruits of one hundred years of an octave of prayer for
Christian unity. Many are also the
barriers which still divide Christians and their churches. If
we are not to lose heart, we must be
steadfast in prayer so that we may seek the Lord and his will
in all we do and all we are.
Prayer
Lord of unity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we pray without ceasing
that we may be one, as you are
one. Father, hear us as we seek you. Christ, draw us to the unity
which is your will for us. Spirit, may
we never lose heart. Amen.
Pray always, trusting God alone
Give thanks in all circumstances (1 Thess 5: 18)
1 Kings 18:20-40
The Lord indeed is God
Ps 23
The Lord is my shepherd
1 Thess 5: (12a)13b-18
Give thanks in all circumstances
Jn 11:17-44
Father, I thank you for having heard me
Commentary
Praying is rooted in the trust that God is powerful and faithful.
God alone is the one who holds all in
his hands, the present and the future. His word is credible and
truthful.
The story of Elijah in 1 Kings impressively demonstrates the oneness
of God. Elijah berates the
apostates who worship Baal, who is not answering their prayers.
Yet when Elijah prays to the one
God of Israel, the response is immediate and miraculous. Realizing
this, the people turned their hearts
back to God.
Psalm 23 is a profound confession of trust. It depicts a person
who believes that God guides him and
stays with him also in the darkness of life and in situations
of desolation and oppression.
We may find circumstances that may be difficult, even turbulent.
We may have moments of despair
and resignation. Sometimes we feel that God is hidden. But he
is not absent. He will manifest his
power to liberate in the midst of human struggle. Thus we give
thanks to him in all circumstances.
The raising of Lazarus from the dead is one of the most dramatic
scenes recorded in John’s gospel. It
is a manifestation of Christ’s power to break the bonds of death
and an anticipation of the new
creation. In the presence of the people Jesus prays aloud, thanking
his Father for the mighty deeds he
will do. God’s saving work is accomplished through Christ so
that all will come to believe.
The ecumenical pilgrimage is a way in which we realize the wondrous
deeds of God. Christian
communities which have been separated from each other come together.
They discover their unity in
Christ and come to understand that they are each part of one
church and need one another.
The vision of unity can be darkened. It is sometimes threatened
by frustrations and tensions. The
question may arise whether we Christians are truly called to
stay together. Our continuous praying
sustains us as we look to God and trust in him. We are confident
that he is still at work in us and will
lead us to the light of his victory. His kingdom begins with
our reconciliation and growing unity.
Prayer
God of all creation, hear your children as we pray. Help us keep
our faith and trust in you. Teach us
to give thanks in all circumstances, relying on your mercy. Give
us truth and wisdom, that your church
may arise to new life in one fellowship. You alone are our hope.
Amen.
Pray without ceasing for the conversion of hearts
Admonish the idlers, encourage the faint-hearted (1Thess 5 : 14)
Jon 3: 1-10
The repentance of Nineveh
Ps 51: 8-15
Create a pure heart in me
1 Thess 5: (12a)13b-18
Encourage the faint-hearted
Mk 11: 15-17
A house of prayer
Commentary
In the beginning and at the heart of the ecumenical enterprise
can be found a pressing call to
repentance and to conversion. We sometimes need to know how to
call each other to task within our
Christian communities as Paul invites us to do in the first epistle
to the Thessalonians. If one or the
other causes division, he should be rebuked; if some are afraid
of all that a difficult reconciliation
could imply, they should be encouraged.
Why hide the fact? If divisions between Christians exist, it is
also through a lack of will to be
committed to ecumenical dialogue and even, simply, to prayer
for unity.
The Bible tells us how God sent Jonah to rebuke Nineveh and how
the whole city repented. In the
same way, Christian communities must listen to the Word of God
and repent. In the course of the last
century, we have not been lacking in prophets of unity who have
made Christians aware of the
unfaithfulness manifest in our divisions and reminding them of
the urgency of reconciliation.
In the image of the vigorous intervention of Jesus in the temple,
the call to Christian reconciliation can
seriously call into question our narrow self-understanding. We
too have a great need of purification.
We need to know how to rid our hearts of all that prevents them
from being a true house of prayer,
concerned for the unity of all peoples.
Prayer
Lord you desire truth deep-down within us: in the secret of our
hearts, you teach us wisdom. Teach
us to encourage each other along the road to unity. Show us the
conversion necessary for
reconciliation. Give to each of us a new, truly ecumenical heart,
we pray you. Amen.
Pray always for justice
See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek
to do good to one another and to all (1 Thess 5: 15)
Ex 3: 1-12
God hears the cry of the Israelites
Ps 146
The Lord…secures justice for the oppressed
1 Thess 5: (12a) 13b-18
See that none of you repays evil for evil
Mt 5: 38-42
Offer no resistance to one who is evil
Commentary
Together as God’s people, we are called to pray for justice. God
hears the cry of the oppressed, the
needy, the orphan and the widow. God is a God of justice and
answers with his Son, Jesus Christ,
who commands us to work together in unity through peace and not
through violence. Paul also
emphasizes this in the words “see that none of you repays evil
for evil, but always seek to do good to
one another and to all”.
Christians pray without ceasing for justice, that every single
human person will be treated with dignity
and given a fair share in this world. In the United States of
America, the injustice of the slavery of
Africans ended only with a bloodletting civil war, followed by
a century of state-sponsored racism.
Even the churches were segregated according to colour. Sadly,
racism and other forms of bigotry,
such as fear of the alien, still linger in American life.
Yet it was through the efforts of the churches, particularly the
African-American churches and their
ecumenical partners, and most especially through the non-violent
resistance of the Rev. Dr Martin
Luther King, Jr, that civil rights for all were enshrined in
American law. His deep-rooted conviction
that only Christ-like love truly conquers hate and brings about
the transformation of society continues
to inspire Christians, drawing them together to work for justice.
Dr King’s birthday is a national
holiday in the USA. Each year, it falls either just before or
within the Week of Prayer for Christian
Unity.
God heard and responded to the cries of the Israelites. God continues
to hear and respond to the
cries of all who are oppressed. Jesus reminds us that God’s justice
is embodied in his own willingness
to sacrifice his own security, his own power and prestige and
his very life to bring to our world the
justice and reconciliation through which all human beings are
treated as equal in worth and dignity.
It is only as we hear and respond to the cries of the oppressed
that we can move forward together on
the road to unity. This also applies to the ecumenical movement,
where we may be required to “go
the extra mile” in our willingness to listen to one another,
reject vindictiveness and act in charity.
Prayer
Lord God, you created humanity, male and female, in the divine
image. May we pray without ceasing
and with one mind and heart that those who are hungry in our
world will be nourished, that those who
are oppressed will be freed, that all human persons will be treated
with dignity; and may we be your
instruments in making this yearning a reality. We ask this in
the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Pray constantly with a patient heart
Be patient with all of them (Thess 5: 14)
Ex 17: 1-4
Why?
Ps 1
Yield fruit in its season
1 Thess 5: (12a) 13b-18
Be patient with all of them
Lk 18: 9-14
A humble prayer
Commentary
We cannot be complacent about the divisions between Christians
and we are rightly impatient for the
day of our reconciliation to come about. But we must also be
conscious that ecumenical effort is not
sustained at the same rhythm everywhere. Some go forward in leaps
and bounds, others are more
prudent. As Paul exhorts, we must be patient with everybody.
Like the Pharisee in prayer, we can easily come before God with
the arrogance of those who do all
things well: “I am not like other people”. If we are sometimes
tempted to denounce the slowness or
rashness of the members of our church or those of our ecumenical
dialogue partners, the invitation to
be patient sounds an important and timely warning.
Sometimes it is towards God that we show our impatience. Like
the people in the desert, we
sometimes question him : why do we have to continue this painful
journey if it is all to no use? Let us
stay confident. God responds to our prayers, in his own way and
his own time. He will create new
ways, to meet today’s needs, of bringing Christians together.
Prayer
Lord, make us your disciples, attentive to your Word, day and
night. On our journey towards unity,
give us hope for fruit in due season. When prejudices and suspicion
seem to dominate, we pray you,
give us the humble patience necessary for reconciliation. Amen.
Pray always for grace to work with God
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing (1 Thess 5: 16)
2 Sam 7: 18-29
David’s prayer of praise and rejoicing
Ps 86
Incline your ear, O Lord
1 Thess 5:(12a) 13b-18
Rejoice always
Lk 10: 1-24
The sending of the seventy-two
Commentary
In prayer we are aligning our wills to the will of God and so
participating in the fulfilment of his
purpose. We need the Holy Spirit to change the hearts of believers,
so that we have the grace to
work with God and become part of his mission and his goal of
unity. As we pray for this without
ceasing we are aware that “more workers are needed for the harvest”.
At many ecumenical
gatherings, and particularly at the annual National Workshop
on Christian Unity in the USA, it is
recognized that if the ecumenical movement is to prosper today
and in the next generation, more
young people need to be drawn into it. We need more workers to
experience the joy of praying to be
part of the work of God.
The readings for Day 6 give us insight into what it means to work for the sake of the gospel.
David, amazed that he might be part of the plan to build a magnificent
temple for the Lord, asks,
“Can God indeed dwell on earth?” then concludes, “Now therefore
may it please you to bless the
house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before
you”.
The psalmist prays, “Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk
in your truth; give me an
undivided heart to revere your name. I will give thanks to you,
O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
and I will glorify your name forever”.
In the sending of the seventy-two, Jesus confirms that through
his disciples, and those who would
come to believe in him through their word, his peace and the
news that “the kingdom of God has
come near to you” would be proclaimed to the world. At their
joyful return, despite rejection, Jesus
rejoices at their success in the submission of the evil spirits
in his name: the message is never to cease,
never to give up.
God’s will is for his people to be one. Like the Christians in
Thessalonika, we are urged to “rejoice
always” and “pray without ceasing”, trusting that as we commit
ourselves wholly to working with
God, his purpose of unity will finally be fulfilled.
Prayer
Lord God, in the perfect unity of your being, keep our hearts
so burning with the desire and hope for
unity that we will never stop working for the sake of your gospel.
We ask this through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.
Pray for what we need
…help the weak (1 Thess 5: 14)
1 Sam 1: 9-20
Hannah prays for a son
Ps 86
Listen to my cry of supplication
1 Thess 5: (12a)13b-18
We urge you…to help the weak
Lk 11: 5-13
Ask and it will be given you
Commentary
Unable to bear a child and in great distress, Hannah prayed to
God for a son and in due time, her
prayers were answered and Samuel (which means I have asked him
of the Lord) was born. In
Luke’s gospel, we read that Jesus himself tells us to “ask and
it shall be given” and in our need, we
turn to God in prayer. The response may not be what we expect
but God always responds.
The power of prayer is immense, especially when linked to service.
From the gospels, we know that
Christ wants us to love and serve one another. In Paul’s letter
to the Thessalonians, the theme of
service is taken up in the imperative: “help the weak”. We do
not find it impossible to respond
ecumenically in a practical way to people’s weakness or distress;
churches of different traditions often
work hand in hand. But their witness in some situations is seriously
weakened by their division, and
when we want to pray together, we are sometimes deeply suspicious
of the different prayer forms we
encounter in Christian traditions other than our own: Roman Catholic
prayers which are addressed to
God through the saints or Mary the mother of Jesus; Orthodox
liturgical prayers; Pentecostal prayers;
the spontaneous, Protestant prayers which address God in direct,
everyday language.
There are signs however of a new consideration of different forms
of prayer. Within American
churches, the experience of Pentecostal renewal has also led
to a greater appreciation of the power
of prayer and Pentecostals have begun to feel more comfortable
in the ecumenical movement.
Discussions with the Orthodox churches in the World Council of
Churches have led to greater
appreciation of each other’s prayer forms.
Without doubt, confidence in the power of prayer is common to
all our traditions and has rich
potential to further the cause of Christian unity – once we can
understand and overcome our
differences. We should give prayerful support to the dialogues
which seek to address those
differences among our churches and which prevent us from coming
together at the Lord’s table.
Praying together that prayer of remembrance and thanksgiving
would allow a great stride to be taken
along the road to unity.
Prayer
Help us, Lord, to be truly one in praying for the healing of our
world, for the mending of divisions in
our churches, and of ourselves. May we not doubt that you hear
and will answer us. In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
Pray always that they all may be one
Be at peace (I Thess 5:13b)
Is 11: 6-13
The wolf shall live with the lamb
Ps 122
Peace be within your walls
1 Thess 5: (12a) 13b-18
Be at peace among yourselves
Jn 17: 6-24
That they all may be one
Commentary
God’s desire for human beings is that we live in peace with one
another. This peace is not only an
absence of war or conflict; the shalom desired by God is that
which arises from a reconciled
humanity, a human family which participates in and embodies the
peace which God alone can give.
Isaiah’s image of the wolf living with the lamb, the leopard
lying down with the kid, offers an
imaginative glimpse of the future God desires for us. While this
shalom is not something that we can
create on our own, we are called to be instruments of the Lord’s
peace, artisans of God’s reconciling
work. Peace, like unity, is a gift and a calling.
Jesus’ plea for the unity of his disciples did not take the form
of a commandment or a request. It took
the form of a prayer, words lifted up before the Father on the
night before Jesus was put to death. It
is a prayer which rises from the depths of his heart and of his
mission, as he prepares his disciples for
all that is to come: Father, may they all be one.
As we mark the 100th anniversary of the Octave/Week of Prayer
for Christian Unity, celebrating it
within the context of the yearnings, prayers and initiatives
for the unity of Christians through the
centuries, we do well to take stock of where we are on this Spirit-led
journey. It is a time to give
thanks for the many fruits of prayer for unity. In many places,
animosity and misunderstanding have
given way to respect and friendship between Christians and Christian
communities. Christians who
have gathered together to pray for unity have often joined together
in acts of common witness to the
gospel, and worked side by side in serving those in great need.
Dialogue has assisted in building
bridges of understanding, and has led to the resolution of some
of the doctrinal differences which have
separated us.
Yet it is also a time to repent, for in our divisions we continue
to stand under the judgement of Jesus’
prayer for unity and Paul’s imperative that we be at peace among
ourselves. In the present day,
Christians are publicly divided on many issues: in addition to
our ongoing doctrinal differences, we are
often at odds with each other on moral and ethical questions,
on matters of war and peace, on current
issues where common witness is called for. Internally divided
and in conflict with each other, we fall
short of the lofty calling to be signs and instruments of the
unity and peace willed by God.
What then shall we say? There is reason to rejoice, and cause
for sorrow. It is a moment to give
thanks for those of past generations who have spent themselves
generously at the service of
reconciliation, and a time to recommit ourselves to be artisans
of the unity and peace which Christ
desires. And it is a time to ponder again what it means to pray
always, through our words and deeds,
through the lives of our churches.
Prayer
Lord, make us one: one in our words, that a single reverent prayer
might rise before you; one in our
yearning and pursuit of justice; one in love, serving you by
serving the least of our sisters and
brothers; one in longing for your face. Lord, make us one in
you. Amen
To index page of the 2008 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity